Video Delivery and MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) Podcast

Mike Q and I recorded the 26 minute and 30 second podcast "Video Delivery and MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group)" today. Below are the show note questions and some diagrams referred to in the podcast. You can listen directly by turning up your speakers and clicking here.

If you have iTunes installed you can get this one, listen to others, and subscribe to our podcasts by following this link. If you don't have iTunes and want to listen to other podcasts and read full sets of shownotes using your web browser, follow this link.
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Intro: The Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG, is a working group of ISO/IEC charged with the development of video and audio encoding standards. In this podcast we look at the MPEG standards and video delivery systems.

Mike: Gordon, what sources are we referring to here?
Wikipedia and white paper from the MPEG Industry Forum at www.m4if.org/public/documents/vault/m4-out-20027.pdf. we've also got a couple of diagrams from the Verizon website.

Mike: What's the history of MPEG?

Mike: Are these open standards?

Mike: What's the history? Can you tell us about MPEG-1?

Mike: How about MPEG-2?

Mike: We don't hear much about MPEG-3 - what's up with that?

Mike: Let's talk about MPEG-4 now.

Mike: What are some of the advantages of MPEG-4?

Mike: Let's switch gears and talk about carried video delivery systems - specifically the telcos and cable companies. How is this technology used?
It's different for broadcast and video on demand (VOD) content. Let's discuss broadcast systems and look at how Verizon (as an example) is setup.

Two National Super Head Ends (SHE) - one in Tampa and the other in Bloomington, IL:

- Diversely located - Satellites collect video feeds
- Video is converted to digital MPEG-2 and packaged in a 10-GigE payload
- SHE servers “pitch” data to the Video Hub Office (VHO)
- Three OC-192 SONET (long haul) rings that drop and continue GigE to VHOs

Mike: What is OC-192? Mike: OK, these video hub offices are distributed over Verizon's footprint - what happens when they get the video?
Video Hub Office (VHO) ex. Burlington MA Combines:

- National Channels
- Servers “catch” data from the SHE servers
- Off-Air, program guide, public, education, and government (PEG) channels, and local ads are injected
- Encrypts all content
- Content sent over several 1-GigE links to local Video Serving Offices (VSO, ex. CO) over SONET (medium haul)
- VSO then sends it to the OLT and then to the PON network for delivery to customer.

Mike: Broadcast is still done using traditional RF modulation methods - correct?
Yes - that will change - rumor has it Verizon will be trialing IP Broadcasting this summer in Pennsylvania - just a rumor!

Mike: Now - Video on Demand (VOD) does things a little differently - correct?
Yes - VOD delivers IP content to the customer - it is not in RF format:

- Content is requested by user via the IP network (private subnet)
- Content is then streamed from the video pumps to the Video Distribution Routers (VDR) in the VHO (ex. Burlington)
- VDR then sends 10-GigE links to a Video Aggregation Router (VAR)
- The Video Aggregation Router (VAR) then sends it to the Gateway Router (GWR) in the VSO (ex. CO)
- GWR then sends it to the OLT and then to the PON network

Mike: So - Verizon is combining Voice, Video and Data services on the same fiber?
Yes - Here's another nice diagram from the Verizon website:

Online Video Viewers Growing

From a Telecommunication Industry News Feed:

According to a Study titled Digital Content Unleashed by ABI Research close to 50% of U.S. consumers are watching some kind of video on their personal computers.

Streaming online content is now the most popular form of PC video, with 72% of viewers watching movies in their web browsers, versus only 65% who use their computers to watch DVDs.

The number of viewers who have used a computer to receive pay-TV services, delivered over carrier networks, meanwhile, stands at just 7.1%. This suggests that although subscription web TV has gained some ground in recent years, the overall number of users tuning in is still relatively low.

It looks like it's time to reconsider the production of DVD's - a popular way for some to market things like academic programs and move the content directly to the web. One way to do this would be to setup a free YouTube channel and post video content there.

We've had our National Center for Telecommunications Technologies (NCTT) channel up for a while and are just starting to populate it. Here's the first part of Karl Kapp's keynote presentation at our July Conference in Marlboro, MA.

You can see our channel and other content here: http://www.youtube.com/user/NatCtrTelecomTech. Keep your eyes on it as we post!

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Read Show Notes and listen to Mike Q and my latest Podcast titled iPod touch Overview and Impressions linked here.
Podcasts also free on iTunes.
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Who's Watching Online Video?

On July 25, 2007 Pew/Internet released a new Technology and Media Use report with some fascinating information. Here's highlights quoted from the report:

- 57% of online adults have used the Internet to watch or download video, and 19% do so on a typical day.
- Three-quarters of broadband users (74%) who have high-speed connections at both home and work watch or download video online.
- More than half of online video viewers (57%) share links to the video they find with others, and three in four (75%) say they receive links to watch video that others have sent to them.
- Video viewers who actively exploit the participatory features of online video, such as rating content, posting feedback or uploading video, make up the motivated minority of the online video audience.
- Three in four young adult Internet users (18-29) watch or download video online. - News video is the most popular category for everyone except young adults.
- Professional videos are preferred to amateur productions online, but amateur content appeals to coveted segments of the young male audience.
- 8% of Internet users say they have uploaded a video file online for others to watch. - Most video viewers watch at home, but one in four report at-work viewing.
- Half of young adult video viewers say they watch video on YouTube.

How they watch:

- Most have watched online video with other people.

- More than half share links to the video they find with others.
- Three in four video viewers receive links to online video.
- One in ten have posted video links to websites or blogs.
- One in five have rated video or posted comments after watching online.

What users prefer:

- Young men are among those least likely to express a preference for professionally-produced video.
- 37% of adult Internet users report online news video viewing and 10% say they watch news video on a typical day.
- News video is the most popular category for everyone except young adults.
- Comedy and humorous videos attract the largest number of young adult viewers - 56% of young adults prefer these.
- With bite-sized clips, music videos also draw young audiences online.
- Animation and cartoons garner the young male audience.
- Full-length movies and TV shows are still making their way online.
- Political content resonates most with active viewers who rate or comment on video.
- One in eight Internet users watch or download commercials online.
- Young male users are the most likely to say they have watched or downloaded adult video online.
- Few pay to access online video.

I wonder how many faculty are using on-line video in their courses. I also wonder how many employers are using on-line video to enhance and grow their business.

We hear a lot of discussion in the academic community about blocking online video sites like YouTube - some IT Directors say it sucks up too much campus bandwidth. As we reach out to young adults, especially in the academic community, blocking sites like YouTube does not appear to be a very good idea.

You can download and read the excellent 28 page Pew/Internet report linked here.

And.......... it's not just the "young adults" watching this stuff - as a former VW owner here's one of my YouTube favorites!


Enjoy:)

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Listen to Mike Q and my latest podcast "Skype, More Skype, Goodbye Copper and Casual Gaming" linked here.